stuff4restaurants

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A recent study of restaurant customers tells a horrifying story, However it does offer you a huge opportunity… IF you learn to develop service strategies that eliminate them.
So , Here are the key figures:
26 out of every 27 customers who feel they have a legitimate complaint, NEVER COMPLAIN.

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91% of the 26 customers who wanted to complain, but didn’t, never return to that restaurant again.

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Each of the 27 customers who feel they have a legitimate complaint, will tell at least 12 OTHER PEOPLE.

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20% of the 27 customers who feel they have a legitimate complaint, will tell 20 people.

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AND IF ALL THAT HASN’T LOOSENED YOUR PANTS… These figures get FAR WORSE…
Let’s say that just once a day, one of your customers experiences service they perceive as “not up to standard”

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In just one year of 200 working days, you have lost forever, a staggering 2300 potential customers.

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So, What’s the solution?
Good customer service? Partially but that’s not enough alone…

Recall above, we discovered that 26 out of every 27 customers who feel they have a legitimate complaint, DON’T ?

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Well that’s the figure we need to focus on. They may not complain of their own volition, However most will if you GENUINELY ask them?

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O.K. That’s really very easy to say, however, it takes courage, sincerity and constant application to ask every customer every time.

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The best systems don’t wait for the customer to get to the cash register before they are asked. The best systems I have seen, ensure that at each key service stage the customer is genuinely asked, by those delivering the service, if what they have ordered and what they are receiving, is up to their expectations.
By the restaurant initiating this system of ongoing feedback, problems are able to be quickly addressed and rectified. Problems are not left to grow and fester into major sources of frustration and loss of business.

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To design a system that delivers this constant feedback all you have to do is sit with your delivery team and identify each stage of the delivery cycle where this feedback should be requested.

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If all these figures have stretched your brain cells a little, let me leave you with a ratio that makes all this work worthwhile…

Every satisfied customer will tell 5 others about the experience, and this figure can be dramatically increased if you adopt some of the ideas listed under the “Word of Mouth Category” on this site.

At a recent seminar I challenged several of the participants to join me on stage, and use the telephone system we had previously wired into the rooms sound system, to place a call to their restaurant, just to learn exactly what their customers experience when they make that vital, first contact that set the scene for their dining experience.

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If you are cringing right now, grateful that you were not exposed to this potentially embarrassing little test, you have got picture already…

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One or two of the responses were O.K. not great but O.K. the rest were downright embarrassing for their owners to have exposed in front of their piers and opposition.

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To be fair, I offered the remaining participants in the audience, who were by now so obviously enjoying the “outing” of their opposition, the opportunity to put their business to the same test, this time I was not surprised to discover a whole new air of solemnity sweep across the audience.

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And before you blame the teams and trot out the “you just can’t get good…” clichés.
You as the owner, MUST take total responsibility for how your business is presented. If your team is not delivering the level of service you wish, only YOU can change it.

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If your team are not delivering the service you wish, it because they don’t know: why it’s important, how a customer perceives it, and exactly what it is they should be saying…
If you have this or a similar service problem, you must move quickly to establish scripts and performance systems that clearly spell out each word that must be spoken and each task that must be performed during this vital first encounter.

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The bookshops are full of “customer service” books that have sample scripts and systems that will ensure your customers experience a high level of service at each phase of their dinning experience.

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I would strongly suggest that the $30.00 investment in a book like this, will prove to be the highest performing investment you ever make.

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